Crete

This article is accurate for the latest versions of EU3, Napoleon’s Ambition and In Nomine v3.2.
Please help update this page to include information on the HTTT and DW expansions.

Crete
Basic Stats
Government type	Feudal Monarchy
Technology group	Oriental
Number of provinces	1
Capital province	Crete
Center of Trade	None
State religion	Orthodox
Primary culture	Greek
Other accepted cultures	Lombard
Sliders Centralization <▪▪▪▪▪♦▪▪▪▪▪> balanced Decentralization Aristocracy <▪▪♦▪▪▫▪▪▪▪▪> quite aristocratic Plutocracy Serfdom <▪▪▪▪♦▫▪▪▪▪▪> slight serfdom Free Subject Innovative <▪▪▪▪▪♦▪▪▪▪▪> balanced Narrowminded Mercantilism <▪♦▪▪▪▫▪▪▪▪▪> very mercantilistic Free Trade Offensive <▪▪▪♦▪▫▪▪▪▪▪> somewhat offensive Defensive Land <▪▪▪▪♦▫▪▪▪▪▪> slightly land oriented Naval Quality <▪▪▪▪♦▫▪▪▪▪▪> slightly quality oriented Quantity

Crete is an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It consists of only one province.

Note: In order to play as Crete one must first load as Venice and then release Crete as an independent nation.

In Nomine

Initially, you may need to take a loan. Use this to build a fleet of cogs and a force of infantry. Your first targets should be the other small islands in the area; Naxos, The Knights, and Cyprus, as well as the single province Greek countries, such as Achaea, Morea and Athens. Use spies and other methods to get a casus belli when needed and try to avoid Greek minors guaranteed by more powerful Italian nations (particularly your old enemy Venice) . Once you have taken all of the local minors take some time to recover your treasury and repay the loan. Crete has good relations with the Ottomans and other Muslim nations so use this to your advantage. Keep good relations with the Muslims and pick off various provinces in the Balkans. Your area is constantly at war and the Ottomans are usually fighting someone somewhere in the area. Be opportunistic and take some provinces when you can. The Unam Sanctum national idea gives a casus belli on all Catholics, meaning you'll receive no stability hit from declaring war on them.

Targets

North Africa

Tunisia and Tripoli are good targets now. Take them both, if possible (they usually ally with one another) and use them as a base of operations against Italy.

Balkans

There are a few relatively rich provinces in the Balkans which are worth adding to your growing empire. One of these is Ragusa. it is a one province minor that can be easily defeating if it is only on its own or allied with a weak kingdom such as Bosnia or Serbia.

Ireland

WARNING! This is a very gamey option, but once you've got some provinces and transports, you can attack the Irish minors. This will net you some extra cash, but it is not as lucrative as other provinces, such as in the Mediterranean or HRE.

Holy Roman Minors

Another gamey but potentially successful strategy. The minors of the HRE have high tax bases, and grabbing a few, such as Bremen, Hamburg, or Oldenburg can bolster you're tax income, but beware of the Emperor. if you have created a decent empire, an Emperor from Saxony, Brunswick or other small nations wont be much of a threat. Just beware an Austrian, Bohemian, Hungarian or French Holy Roman Emperor.

Relations

Keep up good relations with Austria, the Muslims and France (important later). Once you are secure in your little Island Kingdom declare war on Genoa or Venice, the Italian trading powers. Build a strong navy and crush them at sea. Take provinces in Italy and begin to conquer the whole thing. This is where good relations come in. If Austria and France hate you they will crush you while you conquer Italy but if they like you they will leave you alone. To be extra safe leave Savoy as a buffer against France.

If you conquer the Balkans and Italy, Austria will usually expand northwards into Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile keep grabbing small provinces and building up your Navy. Once you have a good force of over 90 ships you can think big. Ally with Persia, or whoever is the local power and declare war on the Ottomans. Keep most of their troops bottled up in Asia Minor as you take the Balkans. Three or so wars should crush them, and you will essentially own Turkey.

From here on in use the Ottoman Empire strategy, as you now own all, or most, of their territory.

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